Not so long ago I posted above picture of one of my sculptures to my Facebook page.

Many people shared this post, one of which was my wonderful sister-in-law Jaime. With her share she commented,

“My brother in law is a very hard-working artist. (I refuse to say talented because it’s a loaded word for him 😉.) Here is one of his latest.”

And she is right. Talented is a loaded word for me. It’s not that I mind people saying that I am talented. I know that when people say this they really are trying to give me a sincere compliment. It is just that my definition of talented is very different than many peoples. So this got me thinking and then it got me writing and now it has become the blog post you are reading. If you have never thought much about talent or what the word really means then this might be an eye opening post for you. If you disagree with the things I write, I’d like to hear about it in the comments below. Likewise, if you agree with what I say or have something to add, I‘d also like to hear about it in the comments.

So why is “Talented” a loaded word? Well, first let me tell you that I probably have more conversations about his word then your average human being. Probably because I am an artist and art teacher and people often use “talented” to describe someone who is good at any of the arts. It can apply to any other skill but for some reason people just don’t use the word as much in other fields. I doubt many people who are good at math get told how talented they are but that is what it is isn’t it? I have known some very talented mathematicians, much more talented at math than I am. Anyway, the point is, this word comes up a lot in my conversations, pretty much on a daily basis. So although I can’t read minds and I don’t always know exactly what people mean when they say it, I think I can draw some pretty accurate conclusions.

Now before I write to much, this post needs a disclaimer. I consider myself a hard working and talented individual. I just don’t often talk about myself as talented. For the sake of this post I am talented person and I feel prideful every time I say it but the truth of it is I have worked very hard to develop my talents and I am still working hard. So… If I talk about being talented I am not being cocky, I am just writing a post. Now with that out of the way I can talk about me being talented without feeling too strange.

There are three main beliefs people have about talent, and you probably belong to one of these camps. First there are the people who believe that you have it or you don’t. You were either born with talent or you weren’t. Second there are the people who believe that talent comes and goes and one must wait around to be inspired or just get lucky before they can do something truly talented. And Third, there are those who believe that all talents can be developed with hard work and determination and that developing your talents is what makes you talented. If you know me at all or have read any of my other blog posts its not hard to tell which of these camps I spend most of my time in. Although I think there is some truth to all three of these beliefs there is one that will always trump the others.

You Either Have it or you Don’t

The Havedon’ts (as I will call them) will often fiercely defend their belief. They are certain that some people are just born better at some things. When I tell them that I couldn’t even hold a pencil when I was born they just look at me like I am stupid. They often point out people like Mozart, or Michelangelo. People who were very talented at a young age. What they fail to recognize is the hard work that these individuals put in before they were ever recognized for their talent. Sure they were recognized young but they also worked their butts off young.

Havedon’ts will also say things like “no matter how much I practice basket ball I will never be in the NBA because I just don’t have the physical body for it, I’m not tall enough.” Really? Muggsy Bogues was only 5-3 and he was in the NBA. Most men in America are taller then that. Then they say “well… What about people with other physical limitations? Like what about someone who can’t walk?” Yes, I understand… Some people could be more physically inclined to do some things, but the Havedon’ts are missing the point. Their focus is in the wrong place. Rather then focusing on the things that they can do and work hard to get better at they make up excuses why they shouldn’t try. Havedon’ts tell themselves that they aren’t talented at something so there is no hope for them. Or that they physically can’t do it so what’s the point. With the wonderful internet it is not hard to find people who have overcome their physical limitations to develop their talents. here’s just one example:

Now wasn’t that amazing!?! Don’t you think it would have been easy for that boy to say to himself “I don’t have any hands, I will never be able to play the piano.” Yet he did it anyway! I would even go as far to say that he is talented!

Sometimes the Havedon’ts will even use God as their excuse. They say that God gave everyone different gifts. Is this true?… I believe it is! But, I’m not going to use it as an excuses to not try something, or put forth the effort to develop my talents. The Havedon’ts think that because they can’t currently play piano well, then God must have not blessed them with that talent. How can we really know what those God given Talents are if we give up before we ever try? And trust me… trying once isn’t enough.

I always know when I am talking to a die hard believer in this because after they tell me how talented I am they always follow it up with “ I could never be as talented as you”. or they might say, “I would love to learn to do that but I just don’t have the talent.”  See what I mean!?! Another excuse! What does this belief really help? Nothing that I can see. It is an excuse people tell themselves to make them feel justified in their lack of trying to develop their own talents. When you are confident in your own talents and have worked hard to develop them you wont be putting yourself down because of other peoples talents. You will recognize their talent and respect them for it, because you know how much effort I took to develop that talent. If you see something you think looks enjoyable you will try your hardest to get good at it.

Interestingly people who are truly talented at something rarely belong to this group. Why do you think that might be?

It comes and goes with inspiration and Luck

Honestly this isn’t one that I hear when people are talking about talent, However it is a very common belief had amongst amateur artists. These Luckies think they need to wait around for some divine inspiration before they can do something worthy of calling talent. These are people who feel like they have talent but hold it in reserve until the moment is right and some stroke of inspiration hits them and they are suddenly talented again. These are also people who don’t ever really develop their talents because they never work on them until they feel inspired to do so. Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that inspiration doesn’t exist. I have moments of inspiration when everything falls in place. I also know that I have much more inspiration when I am actively working on developing my talents.

You may not know this about me but I am a song writer. In my teens I used to come home from school and write a new song every day. Most of them were rubbish but every so often I would get inspired and write a fairly decent song. Now that I am older I rarely take the time to write songs. How much song writing inspiration do you think that I get now? Like… none. It’s because I am not actively writing songs any more. Do you see what I mean. The times when I am developing my talents are the times I am inspired. If you want to read more about this topic I have other blog posts about it here:

How to overcome “Artist Block”

Hard work and determination

If you haven’t figured it out already this is the line of thinking that should hold the most weight. It’s nice to believe that you were given unique talents from birth, It’s also nice to believe that you can be inspired to do great things, but the truth is those things mean nothing without hard work and determination. Ask anybody who is truly talented at anything and I am positive they worked very hard to get that way and if they tell you otherwise they are lying.

Honestly I am slightly offended when someone tells me that I was just born this way. Was the last 30 years of hard work for nothing then?

Yes! I was doing some fantastic artwork in my youth. I also spent many hours working on those skills and talents. There were plenty of times I would set aside doing things like hanging out with friends so I could work on my art projects. It was that exciting to me! I was that passionate about it. I am still working hard to develop my talents. I work so hard it consumes my life! Nearly every waking moment I am either working on sculpture or thinking about sculpting. At random moments during the day my wife can ask  “What sculpture are you thinking about now?” and I can always tell her.

Some might say “What about God then? Don’t you believe God gave you your talents?” Yes! I do. From a very early age I have had a passion to create. I firmly believe that this passion was a God given passion. At first my “talent” looked just like any other child. I would scribble on a piece of paper much like every other child in the world. However… maybe there was something different about me. It wasn’t in the actual artwork but the way I felt when I did it. I enjoyed doing it more then most other children. Because I enjoyed it so much I would do it more often then other kids.  Now guess what happens when you practice doing something more than others do? Thats right… you get better at it! Because God gave me this passion he also gave me the desire to work at my passion and develop my talents. Sure enough, God has helped me along the way, as I have worked hard to get better.

When you see someone who paints a beautiful picture, does a fantastic dance, writes a thought provoking poem, can solve complex math equations, or can consistently make 3 pointers, all you are seeing is the end result. You don’t see the hours spent on that painting. You don’t see the years of practice. You don’t see the thousands of mistakes and fixes. You don’t see the mental and emotional turmoil. You don’t see the nights lying awake thinking about it. You don’t see the time they sacrificed.

So I guess that is why the word “talented” is such a loaded word for me. It takes a lot of hard work and determination to become talented and that is something many people fail to recognize.

So next time you want to tell someone how talented they are maybe you should think about saying it a different way. Maybe you should say, “Wow! You must have worked so hard to get that good! You have really developed your talents!”

I guarantee this will be a much better compliment then simply saying they are talented.

I will leave you with the famous words of my very hard working and therefore talented high school pottery teacher Jerry Hendershot.

“Hard work and determination will trump natural talent every time.”